Scaler Swarm
The SubTerranis Swarm, often called the Scalers by the humans and the Swarm by the Scalers, were a race of reptilian humanoids that, until Emergence Day, established their civilization and resided in the subterranean regions of Etixnare, known as the UnderHollow. It was unknown for how long that the Scaler Swarm lived in the UnderHollow. The Scaler Swarmconsisted of a common race of Nosalies and all manner of other creatures that are indigenous to the Hollow. The majority of the Swarm's Technology was stolen or salvaged from what the Humans dumped or reverse engineered from their enemies' technology.However, the Scaler Swarm was able to develop some of their own technology including small-arms weapons, heavy weapons, armor for use on their tamed beasts, munitions, architecture, and had a considerable grasp of computer technology. The Scaler small-arms weaponry has more power behind it because Scalers can withstain more than the Human, although the Scaler arsenal seemed to be more biologically based with the use of Hounds and other creatures from the UnderHollow. The Scalers would use nearly any weapon, whether it was one of their own design, reverse-engineered Human technology or human-made. Physiology A typical Scaler was a bipedal, muscular creature with tough skin and scales, about seven feet tall, although many were larger. They were considerably larger than a normal human and notably stronger. Their bones were heavier and showed signs of extensive thickening. The Scaler blood was a deep reddish-orange in coloration. A Scaler had multiple internal organs, including multiple hearts. The Scaler required oxygen, though they seemed somewhat more resistant to the environmental hazards, most likely due to their harsh native environment. The Scaler had large eyes with good depth perception in spite of the fact that they were a subterranean race. They had a noted vulnerability to flash overcompensation response (Flash-blindness), a weakness that many offset with polarized goggles or blinders. Some subspecies had particularly strong eyesight. It was strongly believed that the Scalerss could see perfectly in total darkness and most seemed to possess superior senses of smell. History Extinction War Emergence Day Six weeks after the Pendulum Wars ended, the Scaler Swarm invaded the surface, attacking all major cities and slaughtering billions in the first day. In the early hours of confusion, the CORE viewed it as a massive DNA attack or the GasGari attacking. Only after Chairman Ferguson's announcement that the attackers are subterranean in nature, the Etixnarean people discovered that they are not the only intelligent species on the planet. The Scaler Swarm easily overwhelmed the CORE on E-Day and advanced from their captured cities, moving from one city to another only leaving destruction. The war against the humans allowed the Scalers to advance their technology and war effort by using stolen human technology and equipment. Assault on the Horizon Periphery Defense Barricade By 12 AE the Scaler's were ready to wipe out the CORE. Only the HPDB stood in their way, but the humans used Ragnarok, destroying 90% of the surface and killing everything trapped on the surface within the blast zones. The Scalers survived the Strikes, but are not able to accomplish a swift victory like they hoped. Operation: Iron Fist After months of fighting across McCarthy Plateau, the Swarm was able to lay direct siege to St.McCarthy itself, having cut a great amount of its water and food supplies off. The Swarm made its first incursions by attacking Dergov Depot and McCarthy Med, though it was a total disaster for the Scalers who ended up having to make a hasty retreat. Nevertheless, the attacks on the last stronghold of humanity showed the CORE how truly desperate that their situation was. Their backs are against the wall,\ and they had no choice, but to launch a desperate all-out attack on the Scaler stronghold. It was a high-risk maneuver. The odds of a payoff are understandably low and in the likely event that it should fail, it would leave St.McCarthy utterly and totally defenseless in case of a Scaler counterattack, but if it succeeded, it could buy humanity time to regain its footing if not end the war entirely. And a massive fleet of Assault Derricks, KingSabres and Mammoths converged on the Scaler-held city of Ephyra which was the perfect spot to launch a massive grindlift assault right into the heart of the UnderHollow. The attack did not quite go as planned for either side. The Scaler who had their backs against the wall themselves are preparing a final assault on St.McCarthy in an attempt to take the city. For the CORE's part, during the initial assault, they found themselves attacking little more than staging areas and outposts rather than the heart of the homeland of the Scalers. However, they are able to pinpoint Gauntlet, the center of all Scaler civilization and in their own desperate bid to annihilate their foes,The CORE seeing this decided to do one thing: They sunk their own city in order to wipe their foe out, but before the Scalers are prepared for it, resulting in much of the Scaler forces being annihilated. The new leader of the Scaler Army was killed when he was drowned by the massive amounts of seawater from the sinking St.McCarthy. Much later during the CORE Operation:Blockbuster the Scalers seem to be thriving if anything as this was present during the CORE Siege of Novas. Society and Culture The Scaler Swarm was a monarchy society divided into multiple castes. The Scaler Swarms' hierarchy, society and social class system was very similar to and could be compared with a bee hive. The King/Queen was the head of the entire Scaler Swarm and led it in advancement, improvement and steadily increasing its size and power. However, there are field officers that are of higher intelligence, strength, intellect and power than the standard foot soldiers and led the Hordes' military into battle. This class was an organization known as the Theron Guard. There was also the Palace Guards whose members are the defensive counterpart to the members of the Theron Guard. The officers of the Palace Guard are the most powerful, decorated and accomplished Drones in the Hordes' military and are charged with the defense of the Palace and of the leader themselves. Ranking System * Political ** Korolous Rex * Military ** Uzil (High General) ** Zamil (General) ** Theron (Commander) ** Krav (Captain) ** Vold (Lieutenant) ** Vurl (Sergeant) ** Maag (Private) * Religious ** Ketor (High Priest) ** Kantus (Monk) Language The Scalers have their own language written in runes, known by the humans as Subterranish, the writing system's alphabet contained 26 symbols for 26 letters. The numbering system contained 10 numbers that was represented by 10 symbols. There was also a computerized version of the Scaler writing system which could be seen on the Scaler computer terminals. These symbols are cleaner and more identifiable than the handwritten symbols. Architecture The Scaler Swarm's infrastructure was largely composed of what appeared to be stone and brick. Some of the structures that are built included Pens, torture sections for the captured Humans, aqueduct systems, dams, bridges and roads. Military Tactics At an unknown time when the Scaler hierarchy made the decision to invade the surface of Etixnare, their tactics and strategies now had to include offensive plans. When the Horde launched their invasion of the surface of Etixnare on what was to be known as Emergence Day, the Scalers poured huge numbers of the forces onto the surface, coordinating their invasion to take place in every single major city on the surface of Etixnare. During Emergence Day, the Scaler Swarm's military forces succeeded in a number of ways in dominating the Humans and crushing their military forces. On Emergence Day, the Scalers managed to kill 1/4 of the total human population which dealt a severe blow to the Humans. They gathered all available civilian and military hardware from the cities that they invaded. The supplies and hardware are collected and the auto parts are salvaged from the wreckage. Despite the Drone's tendency to blindly charge into battle, the Scalers are far from mindless in battle, employing cunning and resourcefulness to win just as much as sheer brutality and mercilessness. The assumption that the Scalers are little more than mindless beasts greatly hindered the CORE's initial efforts. While the individual Drone's intelligence was questionable, prominent Scalers commanders such as Okish, Theron Grasz and Skraag displayed great cunning and strategy. The Reds in the field often attributed unexpected and surprising tactics from Scalers to the presence of a smarter commander pushing them such as the use of smoke grenades and grappling hooks by Grasz's forces to assault Golf-Seven's position during the Pholiz evacuation. The Scalers most infamous tactic was the use of Emergence Holes or E-Holes to deliver their forces directly into battle. The E-Holes in addition to quickly delivering their forces had a heavy psychological affect on enemies since they allowed the Scalers to attack nearly anywhere at any time without warning. Foot Soldiers